I winced. “And Ijusthad that feeling that someone was watching.”
“Here I was thinking it was all in my head. I’ve been nervous to lower my guard all my life.”
“But youaresafe now. We’re protected. No one is going to get us.” She nodded once as if stamping it as fact.
“What if we were out to getthem?” I asked, quirking one brow.
She blinked once, then gawked at me. A slow smile crossed over her face at last. “Really?”
I shrugged. “I’m carrying.”
“Duh.” She patted her purse.
“You’re not new to the need to be stealthy either,” I commented, recalling what she’d told me about how she had tried her best to hide for years, always looking over her shoulder for anyone to come after her.
“Nope. I most certainly am no amateur.”
“Then come on.” I didn’t want to wait around for the guards. Besides, figuring out who was spying on me gave me a little sense of my lost identity back. Like when I was an agent, on top of my game.
Raisa exited the back of the dress shop with me. Without our needing to discuss it, she let me take the lead. We turned to reach a side alleyway, but no one was rushing to grab us.
“How about you go to the west, circle that coffee place, and I’ll head to the east? You can lead them your way, and I’ll sneak back to that area by those dumpsters.” It was a hasty idea of a trap, but it would work. A quick survey of my surroundings suggested this would bring whoever was watching us that way.
“Got it,” she whispered, still smiling like we weren’t talking about something else, keeping up the guise of an ordinary woman out shopping, oblivious and unaware. I was damned glad now that she had come with me, not Gabriella. Raisa wasn’t a weakling, and she had lived a tough life in and out of the Mafia. I could trust her to keep her cool. Besides, Iknewshe was able to use her gun well if it came down to it.
At the next store, she walked in the direction I told her to, probably looking like she was going to get a coffee. I paused to pretend to fuss with my shoe before dipping lower to hide in the shadows and rush down the alley. I reached the dumpsters quickly.
Ducked down with my gun in my hand, I listened for the sounds of Raisa’s footsteps. When they came closer, I picked up the sounds of at least two people coming after her.
Gotcha.
I got my phone out and hit the button for the notepad to record the audio of what we’d say. Once an agent, always an agent. I would never attempt anything like this without securing proof.
I listened again, waiting for her to be closer.
And… now.
I gauged when I should reveal myself, springing up and aiming my gun on the man behind Raisa. She spun around too, holding up her gun at the other man.
Recognition flared instantly.
Anger spiked faster.
But it was annoyance that I settled on as Raisa and I trained our firearms on my former coworker and supervisor.
“What the hell do you want?” I snapped at Special Agent Hufford.
He sneered at me like I disgusted him. “What a pathetic waste. How’s life treating you as a traitor, bitch?”
Raisa wasn’t messing around. She removed the safety from her gun, which had them tensing immediately. Instead of shooting, she pistol whipped him. “Watch your mouth.”
Yep. I loved this woman. I focused, staring down Agent Jeffries and making sure he didn’t reach for his gun.
“You think you can get away with this?” Hufford said from the one-knee kneel he was in from dropping down at her hit. He spat out blood. “We know you’re behind that attack on the alliance.”
“Oh, the Obsidian Eye?” I asked. “Thanks for confirming you were in on it.”
“I’m sure my husband will appreciate that heads up,” Raisa said.
